


Chasing Shadows

by lightning_dawn



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Eventual relationship, F/M, Pre-X-Men: Days of Future Past, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-04 22:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10291814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightning_dawn/pseuds/lightning_dawn
Summary: Penny Cobb is your average teen, balancing a home life, school, relationships and a genetic mutation. Luckily, she isn't alone, she has the help of the Maximoff twins to get her through life difficulties or... maybe into them. This is Peter/OC. Friends to eventual relationship and all the bumps and turns in the road getting up to that point. Pre-DOFP. Enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! My name is Emi and I have not written or even thought about writing fan fiction for almost... 4 years now and I thought, why not? I fell in love with the idea of creating a Quicksilver/OC fan fiction for a while now and after sketching up some ideas visually about a character as well as plot for the story I set out and began writing. I plan for this to be a sort of long-burn type story that will be free form as it develops. I have some of it written thus far and if there is interest I will be able to post more without a long wait. Thankfully, I have my sister to read the drafts before I send this out to check grammar and what not.
> 
> Thank you for taking your time to read this story and I hope you find it enjoyable. Without further a do here is Penelope Cobb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for taking your time to read this story and I hope you find it enjoyable. Without further a do here is Penelope Cobb.

When I was younger I used to play with the shadows. Shadows never run from you, they never get afraid, they never judge; they simply follow without worry.

My first friend was my own shadow whom I lovingly named Frank. Frank and I would go on adventures; some days we were treasure hunters running away from pirates who wanted to steal our gold and on others we would partake in our imaginary tea and finger sandwiches and waltz as best we could to music that played only in my own head. The fact that I didn't really have any other friends didn't bother me Frank was as good as any, he understood me and was always ready to play.

All was normal, we were a happy family until, Dad left when I was 7.

* * *

**8 Years Ago**

* * *

"Penny, don't you think you want to play with friends who are real?" my father asked me with my mother standing behind him with an encouraging smile on her face. My eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Two nice kids just moved in next door. How about we go meet them?" Mom was nodding her head happily, her smile growing.

"Frank is real," I stated looking between the both of them. I've told them both this time and time again. Frank was a good friend he never pulled my hair or made fun of me like the other kids at school. Why didn't anyone want to believe me?

"No honey," this time mom was speaking, "Frank is…he is not really there. He comes from your imagination. He is an imaginary friend." She spoke slowly trying to get her point across. My little head shook furiously. They didn't understand, Frank wasn't imaginary.

"Frank is real!" My voice was getting a little louder as I became more frustrated. My blue eyes were starting to get blurry with the tears that started to form as I stared at my shadow that rested against the wall calmly. "He can move things," my voice was small as my eyes went back to my parents only to see them sigh and give a glance to each other. They didn't want to hear it again. They thought I was lying. "Frank can move on his own too, I can show-"

"Penny, that's a shadow," my father pointed a finger at the shadow on the wall in return casting his own. He was beginning to get angry. My mother placed a hand on his shoulder in support and to hopefully calm down some of his nerves. It didn't work.

"He doesn't move like a normal shadow! I can show you, let me show you!" I yelled. "Yours too! Yours can move! Just watch the wall!" I looked my father in the eyes until he let out another sigh and his gaze shifted to the wall where his shadow still pointed at mine. "Watch, I'll prove it to you. Frank is real." I was speaking more to myself at this point. I lifted my arms and pointed my hands at the two shadows against the wall smiling at myself as Frank stayed in his original position. My little fingers twitched as I focused on controlling the two shadows in front of me. "Now Frank," I said with a smile on my face, "please shake daddy's hand!" I giggled as Frank moved as did my father's shadow. They shook hands and then began playing a round of Thumb War.

I turned myself around to look back at my parents still giggling, "I told you!" I smiled up at my parents pleased that I had not only made Frank move but my father's shadow as well. The smile on my face dropped instantly as I took in the looks on my parent's faces. They were no where near happy. My father's face was dark and filled with anger, his hands in tight fists shaking at his sides, my mother's was horror struck and it looked as if she was going to cry right then and there.

"Daddy…," again my voice was small—I was frightened, not understanding why they weren't happy for me. I slowly made my way towards him, reaching out my hand to his own only to have him slap it away and take a large step back a sneer plastered on his face. He looked at me with such animosity and hatred. Quickly, my gaze shifted to my mother, "Mommy, what's wrong? Are you mad that he's real?" I was so confused, why weren't they happy to know Frank wasn't imaginary? I took a step in her direction only to have her take a step back just like my father had. She was shaking her head now tears falling down her cheeks.

"She's a monster," my father seethed. I stumbled backwards, tears were now making their way down my face. He was so angry. "She is one of those genetic monstrosities! What did you give birth to Susan?!" I wasn't able to understand some of his words, they were too big, but they were so angry. My mother was still crying, sobs wracking her whole body. What did I do wrong.

"P-Peggy Marie C-Cobb," she choked out in between sobs taking and another breath to steady herself, "Go outside." I nodded and left to the front porch, Frank following close behind. I sat down on the bottom step of the porch and grabbed one of the many brightly colored bouncy balls that littered the grass holding it tightly in my hands and staring at the house next door attempting to block out the shouts coming from inside the house, flinching every so often when some sort of glass was tossed to the floor.

My lips were trembling again, still unsure of what was happening, unsure of the reasons for the fighting. They had to do with me and Frank—the fighting was because of me. I made my way off the porch and further into the front yard getting away from the loud argument, sniffing back tears that threatened to fall. I moved my fingers again thinking about Frank and the shadow moved across the ground. Plopping myself in the grass I tossed the ball into the lawn smiling lightly as I made the shadow push it back again. This went on for a while, Frank momentarily made me forget what was going on inside behind the closed front door.

"Hey," a voice came from the front yard of the house next door. My eyes widened and my hand formed into a fist calling Frank back to my side. "How'd you do that?" The voice belonged to a boy with strange silver hair and dark eyes. His words were weird, lightly mixed with an accent I'd never heard before.

"Why's your hair that color?" The boy smirked at me as I approached him, eyes wide and curious.

"I asked first," my eyes shifted away from his own to my shadow on the ground and my eyebrows furrowed before my gaze met his again. What was going on inside my house came back to mind, would he react the same way? Would he get angry or scared? "You in there?" He questioned again this time poking at my forehead.

Liking my lips nervously, my fingers started to move at my side as I willed my shadow to move across the ground catching the attention of the silver haired boy in front of me. The smirk on his lips grew into a a toothy grin which caused the breath I didn't even know I was holding release. "This," I says again moving my fingers instructing the shadow to push the ball I had been playing with perviously towards the boy, "is Frank my shadow." A small smile was now on tugged at the corner of my lips and the silver haired boy raised an eyebrow.

"Seems more like an… Elroy to me," he says with a smile which caused me to laugh. "Frank is a weird name for a shadow." He spoke like there was nothing at all wrong with what was going on around him. He picked up the ball at his feet and handed it to me, "I'm Peter by the way."

I reached for the ball in his hands only to drop it when the front door of my house flew open, my father with suitcases in hand heading towards his car, my mother yelling his name after him, tears streaming down her face. I watched him with wide eyes as he threw everything in the car, started the engine and, left without a second glance. My gaze shifted to the ground once more, my shadow pulling close to my body until it was right underneath me.

"Who was that?" Peter asks, I look up at him to see his face scrunched up like he had ate a lemon.

I chewed at my thumb, a habit I've been told to stop numerous times, with a frown on my face. "My dad," I say as I look over to my mother who has her hands cupped to her face, wiping away tears that still spilled. She took a few shaky breaths attempting to break her sobbing.

"Penny, it's…it's time to come in-inside," she walked back inside after beckoning for me. I turn to Peter again giving him a nod and a small smile before heading back inside my house, weary of what I was going to find.

"Talk to you later Penny!" the boy shouts from his lawn causing a smile to tug at my lips again. Before closing the door behind me I will my shadow onto the house making it wave at Peter, hearing his laugh as I shut the door and take on the damage done by my father.

* * *

**Present Day**

* * *

We found a sort of normalcy again after dad left. I had learned that what 'Frank' was, was not a friend rather, my mutation, I had the ability to manipulate shade and shadow so as a grew up, my shadow had lost its name and became a part of myself.

Mom, while accepting of who I was, what I was, was still weary at times but it helped that the silver haired boy and I, as well as his sister Wanda which I learned he had after our first encounter, had become the best of friends. Did I forget to mention the little detail of them being mutants as well? Whenever mom has doubts she goes to Magda, the twins mother, for reassurance and advice about all things mutant, she had become a support for my mother after Peter and Wanda came into their powers.

"Whatcha writin'," I was startled out of my own world and dropped the pencil I had previously been writing with to see Peter smirking at me mischievously.

"Nothing your little brain could understand," I retorted about to put my notebook away only to find it no longer in my hand. "PETER!" I yelled snapping my head up to where he was previously, now with my notebook in his hand, his eyes scanning the writing quickly laughing to himself. "C'mon give it back!" I rush to his side and attempt to snatch the book only for him to raise it out of my grasp.

Peter looks down at me with a smirk that makes me narrow my eyes. "You really should've named your shadow Elroy," he laughs pushing me down onto the beanbag I had previously occupied, throwing my notebook into my book bag.

"Asshole," I mumble as I zip up my bag only to receive a flick on the forehead and Peter zipping away, returning with an opened box of Twinkies. Peter continues to shove one in his mouth and throws one my way. "We're gonna be late and you can't afford another tardy," I say tossing my book bag over my shoulder.

As if on cue Wanda shouts from the top of the stairs, "Let's go! The car is leaving NOW!" Peter rolls his eyes as we run upstairs and head out to school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! My name is Emi and I have not written or even thought about writing fan fiction for almost... 4 years now and I thought, why not? I fell in love with the idea of creating a Quicksilver/OC fan fiction for a while now and after sketching up some ideas visually about a character as well as plot for the story I set out and began writing. I plan for this to be a sort of long-burn type story that will be free form as it develops. I have some of it written thus far and if there is interest I will be able to post more without a long wait. Thankfully, I have my sister to read the drafts before I send this out to check grammar and what not.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ya know we wouldn't've been late if you hadn't spent so much time writing your diary this morning," Peter huffed as we were handed our tardy passes at the door. "If I get held back another year I'm blaming it on you P." He shoved my shoulder playfully and I just shook my head with an eye roll.

"You could have just ran," Wanda stated as she turned the dial on her locker. "And don't you go blaming your stupidity on Penny—being held back was all you." Peter sent his sister a dirty look and I bit my lip, stifling a laugh that would just make Peter snap at us.

"You know mom's rule on powers," he mumbled to himself as he turned to his locker opening it and then slamming it shut, adjusting the book bag on his shoulder, faster than a blink of the eye. Leaning against his locker he started to tap his foot quickly, a bored expression plastered on his face. We were moving too slow for him.

After collecting all of our things, much to slowly for Peter's likings, we headed our separate ways until we were to meet up again at lunch.

The first class of the day was Spanish, nothing major, if anything a little boring. My father was a first generation American, his parents came to America from Spain a few years before he was born, though he never spoke Spanish in our house when I was kid, my mom said he tried to teach her when they were dating. My mother said she was a mix of everything, Irish, English, Welsh, the list went on. I was brought back to reality when I was in front of the classroom biting my lip trying to think of an excuse for being late.

Señor Ruíz was an older man from Costa Rica. His skin was tanned and his face was wrinkled and dotted with dark spots. Over his lip was a mustache which was turning white and on his head was dark hair which was starting to thin. Señor Ruíz was of average height and weight and had a voice that could drag on. He wore thick glasses and a dress shirt with a tie everyday, I don't think that he owned any casual clothes. There were two things that Señor Ruíz disliked: 1. Disrupting class. 2. Being tardy.

I checked the clock on the wall, 8:27, I was over 20 minutes late. Bitting my lip I turned the handle on the door and walked in with my head down. Please don't make a scene, I don't need a scene, I try to avoid scenes. When I am not with Peter or Wanda, for the most part, I am quiet. I avoid confrontation and speaking at all costs unless spoken to by a teacher. I'd rather keep to myself and just skate by without worries.

"Un poquito tarde hoy hmm." Of course. The other students snickered to themselves in their seats. If anyone were to get anything out of this class it was going to be the saying "un poquito tarde" a little late. It was Señor Ruíz's catch phrase though, it was never typically directed towards myself. I wracked my brain for an excuse but just came up blank.

My gaze lifted from the floor to Ruíz, my eyebrows furrowed together with an apologetic smile on face. "Sorry Sir," I said quietly making my way to my seat in the middle of the room. He tsked aloud and shook his head.

"En español, por favor."

"Lo siento, Señor," I mumbled. With a few more laughs class resumed feeling even longer than usual today. But, when the bell rang I wasn't free yet. A pink slip was placed on my desk reading:

* * *

**DETENTION**

Name: Penelope Cobb

Teacher: Tomas Ruíz

Date: Friday November 12

Reason For Citation: Tardy

Detention Date: Saturday November 13

Detention Time: 8am - Noon

Location of Detention: Library

* * *

A sigh left my lips and a stern look was given to my from Ruíz as I gathered my belongings and rushed to my next class refusing to be late. Much of the day leading up to lunch was uneventful and for that I was grateful. The bell rings, class starts, I remain quiet and follow along, the bell rings and the cycle starts all over again.

I'm not the one who has many friends, when it comes to the list…Peter and Wanda are basically the only ones on it, with the rare exceptions of a few other classmates. I remain friendly to those around me and will try to hold a conversation if spoken to but, for the most part, I don't fit into any particular group—it's alright thought, I don't mind.

Lunch and Gym were the only times all four grades came together as one. Lunch was also the place where the separation of cliques was truly seen. In the far back corner you had your hippie-stoners who laughed constantly and spoke in broken thoughts, for the most part the jocks were by themselves with the occasional cheerleader by their side at the front, the preps controlled the front right followed behind by the populars who talked about the next party adventure, though all three typically intertwined with one another. The skaters were seen outside, never eating, just skating, theater/chorus/band kids were a tight knit bunch who were typically welcoming if you needed a place to sit when you didn't fit in anywhere, so were the "nerds" who were situated towards the end of the lunch line. Scattered throughout the clique populations were tables which were claimed by other groups that defied the traditional means of classification. One of these tables, a smaller one, was occupied by my little group.

I smiled, seeing that Wanda had already claimed her spot, and made my way through the crowds, dodging some food along the way, until I claimed a spot of my own next to her. I took out the brown paper bag which had gotten squished at the bottom of my book bag and started to take out my lunch which was always the same, peanut butter and jelly on white bread, a juice box, apple of course, a little bag of pretzels and whatever fruit I could find in the kitchen. Taking a bite of the sandwich I questioned, "Where's—" only to be stopped by the teen in question as he appeared next to me, a sack of McDonald's now on the table.

Wanda's eyes flicked to him a questioning look on her face, "Did you steal all of that?" I smirked, she knew better than to ask him that. I took another bite of my sandwich.

"If I told you I didn't would you even believe me?" The silver haired boy quipped pulling his tattered hat off his head and placing it on my own backwards. He took out a few burgers from the bag tossing them to each of us before shoving one into his own mouth.

"Mom packed us lunch for a reason Pietro," she scolded him tossing the burger at his face, which he caught and began to unwrap, frowning at the use of his name. "You know she doesn't like when you use your powers to steal." Wanda was like a carbon copy of her mother and basically acted like a second mother to Peter. They shared the same wavy auburn hair that fell just below their shoulder blades and pale skin. Peter got his mother's eyes though, they were such a deep brown some would call them black Wanda on the other hand, Wanda had the eyes of her father, Magda would say, icy blue and a stark contrast to those of her twin.

"Okay mom, well it's not my fault someone made us run late and made me forget to grab it," he smirked taking a bite. No way, this was not my fault, the time it took us to drive to school Peter could have run home and back well over a hundred times! I pursed my lips at Peter annoyed only to have him spin the hat he placed on my head the correct way and pull the rim down to cover my face, pulling on my long honey brown locks with it. I willed my shadow to knock over one of the many fries he had stolen into his lap. "Geez, these new Freshmen need to lighten up, they're so annoying. Don't you think Wanda?" he laughed, grabbing the hat and placing it on his head once more, still pulling my hair with it. I huffed and shoved his shoulder, focusing on detangling my hair from the hat that was now on his head.

Wanda mirrored one of Peter's smirks retorting, "I guess that's why you were one twice then." I couldn't hold back the snort of laughter and Wanda high-fived me before returning to her packed lunch. Peter sat sulking in his own corner, eating his burgers while staying unusually quiet.

Although twins, Wanda and Peter were not in the same grade. Wanda was now a Junior but Peter was still a Sophomore due to the fact he basically skipped all of his first Freshman year and failed just about every class with the exception for gym, which he made a point to show up to, and ended up repeating Freshman year. The angered look on Magda's face was one I had never seen before, yeah she got mad at Peter occasionally, but nothing to date has matched the one she gave after receiving the letter from the school.

"And no more using abilities at school." Now I was the one to sulk after being reprimanded by Wanda. She did have a point though, for the most part we have been pretty lucky with canceling our powers and not slipping up while around others, at the moment, the world is not super Mutant friendly. My thoughts switched to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 62' and the assassination of President Kennedy in 63' which we have learned about growing up, were caused by mutants. The mutant who shot Kennedy, one they call Magneto, is still locked up to this day, and since then, people are more afraid of us, those who are different, because they think that we will end up like the ones who have done terrible things. We're not all bad though—just different but then again, humans don't like different.

"Sooooo," Peter drawled out breaking he comfortable silence, "who has one of those nice detention slips?" He shot a toothy grin towards both Wanda and I. He reached into his bag and pulled out a nice stack of slips, searching for the one from this morning. "I managed to pick up a few along the way."

"Peter!" I gaped grabbing his bag and looking into it. The bottom was littered with a myriad of similar pink detention slips. "You ARE actually going to this one! If WE have to YOU have to!" I started reading through some of the slips: tardy, tardy, skipped, inappropriate jokes, talking during class, refused to sit still. I looked up at Peter with a laugh and handed his bag back to him and he smiled proudly back.

Wanda cleared her throat as she started cleaning up her lunch, "Well, while you delinquents deal with your detention, I'll be at home, enjoying my freedom from school." Wait, what?! There was no way she didn't get detention! We were so late this morning.

"No way you got out of detention," Peter voiced my thoughts, I nodded and looked at Wanda skeptically. "You have PrissyPants Porter for English, he doesn't excuse tardies." His eyes narrowed and Wanda met his gaze, challenging him. Wanda won the impromptu staring contest, like she always did, and smirked at her twin.

"I simply convinced him," she stated matter of factly as she tilted her chin upwards, a small glint in her eyes causing Peter and I to send her a glare. Another smirk and she was gone to throw out her trash and head off to her next class.

My nose twitched as I watched her walk off. I folded my arms across my chest and mumbled, mimicking Wanda's voice, "And no more using abilities at school." The bell signaling the end of lunch went off and a mass of teens were attempting to leave the cafeteria all at once. I took my time grabbing my bag and trash. "Can you believe that?" I huffed to Peter as I got up from the table. He placed his hands on my shoulders leading me out of the lunch room, "I hope you do know that I'm dragging you to detention tomorrow morning." I deadpanned craning my head back to look at Peter above me. He towered over me by 10 inches now, he would tell you 11 but I am sticking to my height being 5 foot 1 inch—I need the extra height. "I'm dragging you kicking and screaming if I have to."

He smirked, still guiding me throughout the hallway to the only class that we shared, Geometry. He took a seat, propping his feet up on the desk in front of him as I took my spot besides him opening my notebook, ready for lecture. "I'm serious Peter. You're going," I stated again pointing my pencil at his chest.

"Ughhhhhh," he feigned an exasperated sigh as he snatched the pencil I was pointing at him. "Fine Pen finneeeeeee," he dragged out, clutching his chest as if he were in pain. "This is going to kill me though. Can you live with the guilt of killing your best friend because you can't skip one little detention?" He smirked as I glared at him once more. The teacher walked in as the bell rung, Peter calling out that he was late and should get detention which gained him the laughter of the class, not so much of the teacher. I rolled my eyes and the daily routine of school finished playing out until the last bell of the day rang signaling freedom for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be slightly longer, delving into how both Peter and Wanda gained their mutations. I truly enjoy writing this and I will probably continue to write until I reach I point where the story ends or I just wish to stop-which for now, it no time soon. I have clear plot points that I wish to achieve before putting this story down and they should be happening a good ways in the future. Some of the plot points will start picking up seeing as we are pretty much done with big introductions for the time being.
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed and are excited for the next chapter.
> 
> Emi


	3. Chapter 3

The walk home from school was nice. For it being November in Washington, we still were receiving warm weather, today we peaked at 68°. The jacket that I had needed this morning was securely tied around my waist as I soaked in the warmth, knowing soon winter was going to hit us and hit us hard.

Sunny warm days were my favorite, they also meant that shadows were more available. In the winter, especially in Washington, meant heavy overcasts of clouds filled with snow, the darkness of the cloud at times casting away all shadows—I'm not the biggest fan when that happens, I feel vulnerable without my shadow. Sure, there is artificial light that casts its own shadows but, nothing comes in comparison to those brought about by natural light.

"I still can't believe you used your powers to get out of detention Wanda," I feigned a pout at my friend wrapping my arms around hers as we walked down the sidewalk. She was tall, like her brother, having a good 5 inches on me. "I'm even more shocked you didn't bail me out too!" I nudged her.

Wanda smiled and let out a laugh nudging me back as we synchronized our steps. "You deserved it! You did make us late after all. I was saving my ass!" Her eyes shifted to me, "And you know I can't control it well." Her smile faltered a little and transformed into a slight frown. My eyebrows knitted together and I squeezed her arm lightly.

Unlike myself, Wanda and Peter didn't grow up with their mutation, for them, the mutation appeared out of nowhere and it wasn't pleasant.

Peter's had shown up first.

* * *

**7 Years Ago**

* * *

A year after we met, Peter and Wanda were 10, I was 8, we were playing at a park near our home, our mothers talking amongst themselves at a near by picnic table. Already, we had become good friends, being next door neighbors helped a little bit.

It was the first nice weekend of Spring and our mothers thought that it would be a good idea to get out of the stuffy houses and have the warm, clean air help release some of our energy. Little did Magda know that Peter would only gain so much more energy that day, energy that seemed like it would never go away.

The three of us had taken control of one of the many jungle gym features at the park. It was basically a cube made of different sections of metal segments that allowed you to climb about it. This metal contraption was our "secret fort" that wasn't so secret.

We were pretending to be from Neverland, running and climbing away from Captain Hook who wanted to capture us lost children. Our mothers had taken us to see Peter Pan when it was being shown at a local drive thru—it was the first time any of us had gone to the movies and it was an obvious hit. Apparently, mom had seen it when it was first released on a date, I have no idea why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly good movie with a date.

Wanda and I easily decided that Peter had to be Peter Pan. "What if I wanna be the gator!" he protested puffing his cheeks and crossing his arms over his chest. Wanda and I hung upside-down off a rail of the cube watching Peter protest. "Or what if I wanna be Hook!" he bent his pointer finger into the shape of a hook and took a swipe at us making us erupt into a fit of giggles.

"But if you're Peter Pan, you're the hero," I explained as I pulled myself the right way up, my face now red from the blood rushing to my head. "Plus you already have the name!"

"And you're evil sometimes, but not evil enough to be Hook," Wanda retorted, flipping as she let go of the bar, landing on her feet next to Peter. Peter shoved Wanda who stuck her tongue at her brother in return.

"Pleaseeee Peter," I begged. My legs were swinging in the air as I cocked my head at the boy in question, giving him the biggest puppy-dog eyes I could muster and pouting out my bottom lip. "Please, please, pleaseeeeeeee!" I watched him take in a deep breath of air and releasing it in a huge sigh, running a hand down the side of his face. Instantly, a big grin replaced my pout and Wanda was smiling next to him. We usually got our way.

"Fine. Then who is Wendy?" He questioned looking between the two of us.

"Ew not me! I don't want to be in love with my brother! That's gross!" Wanda protested with a sour look on her face as she shook her head.

My freckled nose scrunched up at his question. "I don't want to be the one in love with you either that's just weird! I wanna be a lost boy!" In return to our responses Peter let out a laugh.

"How come I get no say then!"

"Because there are two of us and one of you," Wanda smirked at him. "I call Slightly. Penny you be Tootles."

"But I want to be able to speak!" I complained pumping my legs faster in annoyance.

"There's two of us and one of you," Peter smirked back at me hitting my foot. I glared at the twins I called my friends huffing out a 'fine'. We immersed ourselves in our imaginary world. Squeals of laughter and pretend arguments flooded the air as Peter took on the role of Peter Pan whole heartedly, loving the ability to boss the two of us around. We were constantly on the move, up and down the jungle gym, running around on the wood chips of the playing area and finally to the trees where we claimed was 'home.' We were no longer in sight of our mothers and that's when Peter's powers showed themselves.

Our playing was cut short when a group of older boys from school came up to us. "Look at Maximoff playing pretend with a bunch of girls. Are you a girl Maximoff?" All of our eyes went to the leader of the group. He looked like a 6th grader. His hair was short, rather close to his head, and a dark brown color. The group behind him laughed, they all looked the same, they were tall and bigger than Peter. Peter had the ability to befriend anyone but also the ability to talk too much and too sarcastically in return ticking people off, I was assuming this was one of those cases. "What, you play with babies Maximoff?" He laughed stepping closer to me pinching one of my cheeks a little to hard, baby talking at me.

Peter noticed my slight wince, "Get away from her Doug." Peter stepped forward putting Wanda behind him and shoving this so called Doug away from me. I rubbed my cheek and stepped closer to Peter. I did not like this group. My fingers twitched and my eyebrows furrowed—I was getting scared and when I get scared Frank can sometimes act mean. My shadow was growing larger, and intertwining with the shadows cast by the unwelcome group, effortlessly winding around their legs unnoticed, almost unnoticed. "Penny," Peter's voice snapped me out of my focus with Frank, I looked up at him with wide blue eyes. "Go with Wanda and get our moms." His voice was low as he pushed me behind him to Wanda.

"Ooo look at tough Peter Pan—sending the little girls to go find Mommy," Doug taunted, "not so funny now are we." Peter just smirked, no one should ever taunt Peter, he always takes on a challenge. "I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your face Maximoff." Doug signaled over to his group and they started to circle Peter. Doug made the first move, throwing a punch at Peter which he was not quick enough to avoid, getting him in the cheek.

Peter struck back, landing a nice blow to Doug's stomach. With each new punch from Doug's gang Peter was getting faster, but he was also getting trapped more and more. "Go!" Peter yelled towards us. Quickly and with as much focus as I could, I yanked at one of the boys shadows causing him to fall over giving Peter enough time to run and boy did he…run.

As we were running to our mother's Wanda sent a worried glance behind her only to find no Peter. "Peter?!" she yelled behind her, looking around frantically. What? I stopped and looked around—he wasn't anywhere. "Where is he?! What did you do with him?!" Wanda yelled at the older boys but they were just as confused. At this point our mothers had heard Wanda's yelling and were rushing to the two of us. "Where is Pietro!?"

"I-I don't know." Doug looked confused and now scared as our mothers rapidly approached.

"What is going on!" Magda yelled as she rushed to our sides, my mother closely behind.

There were now tears in both Wanda and my eyes. Where was Peter? "They came up and started fighting!" I quickly explained, panic setting in more. "N-Now Peter is gone!" Magda furiously stared down the older group of boys demanding their names which they gave and she told them she was going to contact their parents which sent them into a fury of apologies and as soon as they had come, they were gone leaving us panicked.

After searching the park and shouting Peter's name for the next half our we went home in hopes that Peter had run home.

He had.

Magda ran into her house shouting Peter's name. What she saw she didn't believe at first. In the living room, there Peter was, he was constantly moving from one place to another in rapid motion, in a blur that was unrecognizable until he stopped and resumed his motion.

"You guys were so sloooowwww," he complained as soon as we all came into his view. "You guys took forever to get home. I've been basically everywhere while waiting for you to get back." He was constantly moving, stopping only to talk.

"Peter," Magda breathed both out of relief and shock.

"If you were everywhere," Wanda was crying out of anger now, her voice uneasily steady, "why didn't you come back to the park!"

"Hmmm…," Peter practically buzzed, "Dunno. I forgot?"

Wanda's powers had shown themselves after Peter's.

"You forgot!?" Wanda shouted at her twin. Her hands were clenched into firsts at her sides. "How did you forget?! Peter we were so scared! I was so scared!" Tears were falling down her cheeks and I could have sworn I felt the house shake slightly. My eyes darted towards Peter who was now staring at his twin with wide eyes, my gaze followed. Her hands were glowing lightly, a slight pink hue. The house rumbled again.

"Hey Wans, it's okay. I'm fine, see?" Peter attempted to calm down his sister. Flashing his signature toothy grin just…missing some teeth and now with a rather nice bruise.

"When you disappeared…I was scared I wasn't going to find you. I was so scared. For you! For Penny! Of them!" Wanda looked like she was in pain, like there was something happening inside of her. She sank to her knees and hugged herself tightly. Then she screamed.

"Wanda?" I went to comfort my friend only to now be on the other side of the room with a pain now radiating in my neck. My hands were over my ears…I didn't put them there in fact…everyone had their hands over their ears. Wanda continued to scream causing all of us to press our palms harder against our ears.

The glass of the television shattered next to Peter and I causing me to jump. Some windows cracked as well as picture frames that fell onto the floor. Wanda's painful scream started to die down after only a few seconds. Once she was silent, it looked like she was no longer in pain, just in shock. I wanted to walk over and comfort my friend only to be stopped by Peter grabbing my arm. Magda instead rushed to her daughter comforting her the best she could, my mother coming to Peter and I, pulling us into a hug, telling us that everything was going to be okay.

Magda held Wanda to her chest, smoothing down her hair and rubbing her back. With tears in her eyes she let out a laugh, "Well I see why you are all such good friends. Penny, are you sure you are not related to these two." My mother smiled, a laugh escaping her lips as well.

"Yeah." I stated matter of factly, I wasn't related to Peter and Wanda, my mom was my mom, not Magda. I didn't understand. Our mothers just laughed even more at my statement and eventually we all moved over to my house seeing as the Maximoff residence needed some cleaning up. Our mothers decided that a sleep over would be best for the night. The three of us stayed up late, laughing about how we are all the same now, we timed Peter's speed, we watched some television and ate popcorn, we acted like normal kids who were by far more than normal. After we had fallen asleep, or at least the adults think we fell asleep, Magda and my mother went next-door and cleaned up the mess made previously.

I laid there, biting my thumb, making shadows move across the ceiling. Wanda was asleep next to me, exhausted from the events of the day, Peter was awake, fidgeting as he watched the shadows move above him. "How's your mouth?" I asked quietly, turning my head towards Peter.

He shrugged as he kept his gaze at the ceiling, lightly prodding at the spots where he no longer had any teeth. "Hurts," he replied after a few moments of silence. "How about your cheek?" he questioned now looking at me. "You have a mark."

I furrowed my brows and touched my cheek where Doug had pinched me. It stung a little but I had no room to complain, Peter looked bad. "Doesn't hurt," I lied, pulling my blanket closer to me as I got comfortable, ready to fall asleep.

"Liar," Peter quipped poking the spot on my cheek making me scrunch up my nose causing him to laugh. I opened one eye only to see Peter rolled in the opposite direction. With a sigh I let myself fall asleep. Today was a very, very long day.

* * *

**Present Day**

* * *

Wanda for the most part, tried to suppress and control her mutation to the best of her ability though, she realized the more she tried to restrict it, the more it wanted to lash out. There have been a few mishaps along the way but she seemed to be getting better and better. I smiled at my friend reassuringly, squeezing her shoulders as we rounded the corner that lead us to our homes. "You know you've been handling them really well lately, I'm impressed. You've got this." Wanda smiled, she really just needed to be reassured sometimes, that things were okay and she was doing the best she possibly could.

"Thanks Penelope," whenever anyone used my full name it was a serious moment. She hugged me back as we started walking up her front porch.

"I'm glad I missed such a sappy moment. You guys are such…girls," Peter shuddered and sent his smirk our way.

"Wow way to ruin the moment Peter," Wanda rolled her eyes at her twin and we passed by him entering the house with him close behind his grin growing wider knowing he successfully hit his "Annoy Wanda Quota" for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I throughly enjoyed writing my version of the backstory for the Maximoff twins. It only seemed fitting that they got their mutations around the same time as one another, they are twins after all. Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Emi


	4. Chapter 4

The car ride to school the next morning was basically silent. Everyone was too tired, even Peter didn't have a witty remark about the rats nest of my hair, something he would normally jump on. Although it was quiet, the glances my mom kept making at me from the rear view mirror told how annoyed she was having to drop me off at school for detention.

Last night, I was lectured at for a good half hour about how I was not to be late again, how detentions are not something for me to get. I just nodded until I was told to go to my room. Waking up early on a Saturday morning was more of a punishment then actually going to detention. Saturdays were for sleeping in and ignoring all responsibilities, not this.

Peter looked dead as Magda pushed him out of the house. The speedster basically crawled to the car like an old man, bags under his eyes, a yawn escaping his lips. He would rebound soon—getting to his normal energetic self, he just needed time.

We arrived at school 15 minutes before detention was to begin. Mom pushed us out of the car, giving us a quick lecture once more, before driving off to claim a few more hours of sleep of her own. I rubbed my eyes and mumbled to myself as I dragged my feet towards the building, pulling Peter along behind me. When we reached the library we filed in, looking around at the other unfortunate teens who looked just as dead as us this morning, they were less than thrilled to be wasting their precious Saturday morning at school.

"Well if it isn't Maximoff," a male voice boomed. It came from the teacher in charge of detention this morning, I didn't recognize him. He was a younger teacher, built well with longer blond hair and green eyes. "I'm shocked to actually see you here." The teacher smiled, too awake for the morning. "Look at you, corrupting the freshmen already." he pointed at me, I just stared back. How was he this awake?

"This one's all on her, she just wanted me here for moral support," Peter sent a grin towards the teacher. "C'mon Lewis, you know I wouldn't be here otherwise." I just looked between him and Peter. Peter never gets along with any teacher, what was going on here?

"Everyone take your seats," the man boomed again. Everyone clumped around the tables in the center of the library with grumbles and moans of annoyance. "Welcome to the wonderful world of Saturday detention. Everyone gets two, that's right two, 5 minute bathroom breaks, which will be timed and monitored," he sent a pointed look at Peter who just leaned back in his chair and smirked. "Sleep, do homework, talk to one another, just don't try and leave and we wont have any problems." The teacher, Mr. Lewis went to call roll, marking down those who didn't bother to show, and proceeded to sit himself down where the librarian usually sat, reading the morning paper.

One name on roll call stuck out to me. Stacy Monroe. She was a Junior, part of the popular bunch. I folded my arms on top of the table and rested my head on them, scanning the room for the girl. She was talking to Mr. Lewis, complaining that one little doobie shouldn't call for a Saturday detention, that she was going to be behind on getting ready for a party tonight. She huffed when Mr. Lewis told her to go back and sit down.

Although it was early, Stacy made an effort to look flawless. Her blonde hair was curled and bouncy, tied into a ponytail at the top of her head. She wore a short, orange dress, brown leggings underneath with white knee high boots, decked out with matching accessories. She even managed to do her makeup. What time did she have to wake up to get ready? I was lucky to not be in my pajamas right now, I had barely enough energy for the hoodie and jeansI threw on in a rush, my hair gathered into a knotty, sloppy bun. I dropped my gaze back down to the table, listening as Peter restlessly tapped a pencil, only stopping when Stacy Monroe pulled out a chair in front of him, leaning her elbows on the table, leaning towards him, a bored expression on her face.

There was another thing about Stacy Monroe, Peter had the biggest crush on her. Peter, for the most part, could fall into the popular category in all social aspects of the school food chain. For him it was easy, he was a smooth talker and a funny guy who was fun to be around, most of the time, but he was always up for anything, making him likable by just about everyone. When Peter wasn't with Wanda or I, he was usually at some party, socializing and hanging out with those who were popular, they accepted him into their group and he fit right in. It wasn't my place to voice my displeasure with his choice of friends at times, Peter was Peter, and I had no control over him.

"This is such a drag," Stacy sighed, inspecting her nails. Peter remained cool and sent Stacy his signature charming smirk which he knew worked on any girl, Peter wasn't shy about the fact that he was a casanova. A smile tugged at the corners of Stacy's lip glossed lips. "How about we skip this joint?" My eye flicked to her face, she stared at him seductively, arching her eyebrows. I turned my head to Peter who had an even larger smirk on his face, captured by what Stacy was saying. My nose scrunched up and I rolled my eyes. "Unless," she started again, her glance turned to me with a smirk, "you're stuck babysitting." What? My eyes flicked to her again annoyed.

"I'm sure little Penny here can take care of herself," Peter quipped smiling wider, matching Stacy's glance. How dare he call me little. I glared at Peter. Sure I was short and I looked younger than my age but I was still 15, granted I just turned 15 a week ago, but still 15!

"Pe—!" My protest was muffled by Peter clamping a hand over my mouth, my glare intensified. Peter sent a wink my way and my shoulder slumped with a sigh, I couldn't control Peter. He removed his hand from my mouth and I straightened up in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest, glaring at the table.

"Right on!" Stacy all but giggled, clapping her hands in front of her. "We can have a little party before the party tonight," she smirked again. "Let's go have some fun." She winked at Peter and got up, heading over to Mr. Lewis to ask for one of her bathroom passes. Lewis gave her a look, but let her go, and she left the library done serving her short sentence. If Stacy asked Peter to jump, he would ask how high. That's how enamored he was with this girl.

I wasn't a fan of the activities that Peter got involved with when he was with this group of friends, he always came home acting different until whatever he did left his system. I knew that Peter was going to one of their parties tonight—every other weekend he went to one and Wanda and I would have to deal with the aftermath.

"C'mon you're not really mad," he ruffled my hair and I just squinted up at him. "If anything you should be impressed that I stayed this long." I rolled my eyes as he grinned at me. I focused my attention to braiding my hair, pulling at any split ends that managed to show up along the way. "I know you can never stay mad at me anyways," he quipped with a knowing smirk. He was right, the longest I was ever mad at Peter was about two days until I gave in and spoke to him again.

"Watch the master Pen and take notes," he said finally, messing with my hair once more before walking over to Mr. Lewis, and I watched. Peter clutched his stomach and put on a pained face. Lewis lifted his gaze from his paper, eyeing Peter skeptically. "Lewis, I don't think my breakfast is agreeing with me," he hunched over slightly, exaggerating his 'pain'.

"You have 5 minutes," Lewis said with a sigh. Peter smirked and on his way out threw up a thumbs up and he was gone leaving me alone to suffer from boredom. I rested my chin on my hand and eyed the clock. I wish I had the ability to speed up time, I let out a sigh. Peter lasted a good 30 minutes until he made his escape.

I looked back down to the table I solely occupied, smiling as I now had a chocolate frosted doughnut and a note:

* * *

 

See ya later Pen. Don't be too mad at me now.  
P.

* * *

 

I shook my head, my smile growing as the slight anger I had at Peter fade away as I took a bite of the doughnut, my favorite. As big of an ass as he was sometimes, Peter wasn't bad.

The next four hours dragged on forever. I managed to finish a weekends worth of homework though, which was pretty nice. A yawn escaped my lips as we began packing up our things to leave. Today was going to be quiet, Wanda and her mother were out of town for the weekend for a 'girls get away' and now Peter was going to be gone all day. I pulled on my jacket and readjusted the book bag strap on my shoulder before making my way to the exit of the library, to freedom.

I was almost out the door until I was stopped by Mr. Lewis. "I'm surprised you managed to get Maximoff here," he smiled, "let alone keep him here for as long as you did." I laughed, smiling back at him. He did have a point—this is the longest Peter was probably at any detention he attended. "You must have some super power to be able to do that." His face was set as my eyes flicked to his face, he was watching, waiting for a reaction. I only laughed lightly and sent him a smile.

"Maybe," I tugged at the strap on my bag. Maybe I was just paranoid of people finding out about my mutation. I was looking into his words too much.

"Well Penny, I don't want to see you again at Saturday detention. Don't let Maximoff rub off on you," he smiled once more and I nodded, walking out of the building heading home.

Yesterday, the walk home from school was beautiful. The sun was out, it was extremely warm and you didn't even need a jacket. Today, I wish I had worn a hat. I looked up at the sky, the clouds were heavy and dark, obscuring the sun and castings a giant shadow over the town. Moving my fingers at my sides I mindlessly moved my shadow about the pavement, pushing falling leaves out of its path at it made its way on the ground. I took the longer route home today seeing as I was in no rush to get home.

Taking the longer route means passing the park. I smiled as I looked to all the kids playing. Even on a cold and cloudy day, kids were laughing and squealing with delight, playing tag with one another and climbing upon the jungle gym. It seems so long ago that Peter, Wanda and I once played here everyday after school when we were younger, even longer that Wanda and Peter stimulated their mutations here. What if we hadn't come here that day? Would the twins even have mutations now? I still played with my shadow at my side, smiling as I made my way past the park reminiscing of the past.

"Mom! I'm home!" I shouted as I walked into my house. Silent. "Mom!" I shouted again, maybe she didn't hear me? I walked into the kitchen and looked out the window to the driveway looking for her car, not there, she went out. On the fridge: Will be home late. Don't wait up for me. -Mom. Everyone has something to do today except me.

With a quick twitch of my fingers my shadow grabbed a cup and plate as I rummaged through the fridge looking for the jelly and milk, I placed the ingredient on the counter and with another movement of my fingers my shadow was gathering peanut butter as I went for the bread. My lunch was simple but it was also my favorite, you can't go wrong with a pb&j. I poured my milk and quickly made my sandwich, cleaning everything up before I went to the living room to watch tv while I ate. Detention made me miss the cartoons and now all that was on was the news.

News was mostly about coverage of the war as well as mutants. We seemed to be a hot topic recently. Supposedly there was a scientist who was looking into our genetic make up and ways to spot out mutants from humans, Stark, Thrak, Trenk—something like that. He hasn't said much about his work, saying that in due time we will see the fruits of his labor and not have to worry about the "mutant problem" anymore. My eyes narrow at the screen, I don't like this guy. Not one bit.

My day was spent mostly lounging around the house. After lunch I changed into pajama shorts and a comfortable loose long sleeved top. After turning off the tv, not wanting to hear anymore, I went to cleaning the house, the kitchen, the living room, my room was a pain but it all got done. By the time 6 o'clock rolled around my stomach was complaining loudly and I decided a can of soup would be the quickest way to satisfy its cries. So tomato soup and crackers it was. After cleaning up it was back up to my room.

I had no idea when my mom was going to come home. The clock now read 10 pm. My back was pressed up against the headboard of my bed and my nose was in a book as I waited out the clock.

A thud that resounded throughout the house was what woke me up. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes and blinking out the harsh light from the lamp I left on I focused my vision on the clock by my bedside table. 3 am. I got out of bed and walked down the hall to my moms room, maybe she had gotten home. I thought wrong, opening her door quietly and poking my head in I heard her lightly snoring away. Closing her door I bit my lip nervously and flexed my fingers, willing my shadow to be on alert and ready to help defend myself.

I crept down the stairs and into the living room. I was on edge, things that go bump in the night scare me still, with a gulp I opened the front door slowly, peeking out the crack. With a sigh of relief, all of the nerves in my body calmed down. On the porch was a groaning Peter.

Now with more confidence, I stepped outside and crouched next to Peter. I shivered, the temperature had dropped drastically since this afternoon. I strained my eyes to get a better look a Peter, he was mostly covered in shadow, though his silver hair seemed to shine brightly from the reflection of the moon. He shifted from where he was laying on the porch, his hand now rubbing his temple where I assumed he hit the side of the house. "Peter?" I whispered his name.

"I uh, didn't stop quick enough," he laughed slurring his words slightly.

I huffed a sigh, and looped my arms under his armpits, using all the strength I had to lift him slightly and pull him into the house and out of the cold. Pulling him inside and closing the door, I slumped him against the wall in an upright position, taking a seat next to him. "You're drunk," I said leaning my head against the wall, turning it slightly so I could see his face.

Peter made a goofy smile and laughed, "and higher than a kite." I rolled my eyes and crossed my legs, sitting silently as Peter let out his laughs. His laughter stopped and he looked at me with he was attempting to be a serious face, "Pen I need food." I just shook my head. I've seen Peter like this before—though tonight he seemed more messed up than usual.

"You need sleep," I was now looking at him fully. "How about I take you home?"

"No, no ones there. Not going. Can't make me." The goofy smile was back on his face. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes droopy and bloodshot.

"C'mon Peter, let—"

"No."

"Peter I'm—"

"No!" He was beginning to get loud.

"Peter," I whispered sternly, like Magda did when reprimanding Peter. His eyes flickered to mine for a second taking me seriously before grinning again. I huffed a sigh and with a grunt made it back to my feet, extending my hands to Peter, to which he gave a double high-five. "C'mon you're going to bed. Take my hands."

"Pennnnnyyyyy," he whined. I reached down and grabbed his hands pulling him up to a standing position.

Getting him up the stairs and into my room was a hassle. He didn't want to move and when he did he stumbled along, almost tripping us back down to the bottom, and kept whining my name loudly in my ear. "Peter, walllkkkk," I now whined quietly as we were half way up the stairs—walking up the stairs was taking a good 10 minutes at this point. Another 5 minutes and we reached the top of the stairs and Peter began to laugh loudly. I clamped a hand over his mouth as we made it past my moms room and finally into mine, Peter mumbling behind it the whole time.

Pushing him onto my bed I bent over and rested my hands on my knees, eyeing the silver haired boy with an annoyed stare. "Do you realize how much more annoying you are when you're like this?" Why did I expect an answer? He grinned and laughed to himself as he sat slumped over on bed. "How much did you smoke Peter?"

"Haha, a lot." he patted his pockets pulling out another doobie, waving it towards me laughing. I flicked my finger and my shadow slapped it out of his hand.

"And how much did you drink?"

"A lot more," he grinned, attempting to get off the bed. I took a step forward pushing him back down onto the bed. As I started untying one shoe, my shadow mirrored, and Peter's shoes were discarded onto the floor. He sat there watching. His eyes going wide as he watched the shoe my shadow took off fall to the floor. "I'm tripping," he gapped. I squinted my eyes and shook my head at him.

"Did you hit your head hard enough to forget my mutation?"

He laughed again giving a goofy grin, "just kidding Pen. You're a werido just like me."

Again I rolled my eyes, lifting the cover of my bed and pushing Peter to lay down, covering him back up again, and for once tonight—he didn't fight me. "Sleep this off Peter," I said with a little reassuring smile, "you're gonna feel like shit in the morning." I smirked at him now as he tried his best to glare at me shaking his head as he did so. He adjusted into the pillow, squirming as he made himself comfortable. I looked at the clock again, it was now half past 4. I let out a tired yawn.

Leaning over Peter, I grabbed the unoccupied pillow, my hair falling into his face. Peter reached up and grabbed a a handful of hair, waving it wildly. "Your hair is long Penny," he slurred, amazed, as if he hasn't seen me for the past 8 years. Prying my hair from his hand I threw the pillow on the carpeted floor and grabbed the blanket from the bottom of the bed.

Another yawn escaped my lips, it was far too late. I squatted down to the floor and landed with a thud. I wrapped my blanket around myself, finally resting my head against the pillow. The floor was a little hard but nothing unbearable. I closed my eyes, making myself as comfortable as possible. I was drifting off rather quickly until, "Pennnnnyyyy, I'm hungry."

"Go to sleep Peter."

"Pennnnnyyyy," he whispered, with one eye I looked up at him, he was rolled on his stomach, looking down at me with heavy eyes.

"Sleep. Now." And I let sleep take me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have been sitting with this for a little bit at first disliking the beginning but I pushed through and rather enjoyed where this ended. The next chapter will be Peter's POV of the same day so that should be interesting. Luckily enough, my college is closed tomorrow due to an insane amount of snow so, I can spend a good portion of the day writing and hopefully get the next chapter out by the end of the week! Like always, I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter!
> 
> Emi


	5. Chapter 5

**Peter's POV**

I honestly don't know how I was up and functioning at this hour of the morning on a Saturday no less. Saturday's were for goofing off and sleeping in, ignoring school more than I already did. The weekends were for having fun, letting loose, ignoring all responsibilities. Not Saturday detention at 8 am. What was Penny thinking making me go with her?

A yawn took control and escaped loudly as I crawled into the Cobb car, taking my seat next to Penny in the back. Her mother looked less than thrilled to be driving us to school at the moment. My gaze drifted to Penny who yawned in response and attempted to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Her massive amount of hair was pulled lazily into a bun on her head, if I were awake more I would crack a witty remark but right now, I barely had enough energy to keep my eyelids open.

The car ride was pretty much silent—and too slow. I fidgeted with my fingers, bounced my knees, and played with the zipper of my leather jacket as Ms. Cobb slowly pulled up to the curb outside of the school. We had 15 minutes until we were to be in the library, basically an eternity, I have no idea why she wanted us to be here so early. When the car came to a stop she put it into park and turned around to give us a stern look, another lecture on our behavior and how this was going to reflect negatively on us in the long run. Well…it was more directed towards Penny who sat there shaking her head as she nervously bit on her thumb nail, for me, it was a lecture I basically heard every day.

When we were out of the car Ms. Cobb pulled away leaving a grumbling Penny at the curb as she stared at the school as if it had personally offended her. I smirked at the girl in front of me, I tried to convince her to just not show up, that it wouldn't be a problem to skip, everyone—well those I knew—basically did it. Saturday detentions were a joke. Though, when I was explaining that to her she shook her head, already set on going, her mother would be less than pleased if she skipped.

Penny was a good student, way better than me, she did her homework and studied, she did well on her tests and didn't give any of her teachers problems. I on the other hand, was skating close on the just barley passing border. I wasn't bad at any of the subjects—they were just too slow for me and I get distracted easily…then I just skip.

I was pulled out of my scattered thoughts by a small hand grabbing my own and a shuffle of feet as I was dragged toward the school building. The place was dead. When we reached the library, it was filled with a handful of students who were unfortunate enough to show up to this depressing show. Some were blackmailed into showing up due to letters sent home, others a phone call from the principal. They looked as dead as I felt, not wanting to waste their time in this joint.

"Well…if it isn't Maximoff," a booming voice gabbing my attention. I looked over and a smirk was on my lips. Lewis. Lewis is the only teacher that I actually like, the only one who doesn't annoy me or go too slow. He teaches history and is also the coach for the track team. He was my coach before I was kicked off the team, unjustly by the way, because of my mutation. Which is total BS by the way seeing as coach is a mutant as the well and I know for a fact has used his mutation to pull us some wins! Only a handful of faculty know of my mutation, and because of it, it was declared unfair for me to compete due to my speed. Not my fault that everyone else is just slow.

"I'm shocked to actually see you here," he smiled, "Look at you, corrupting the freshmen already." He pointed at Penny a smile on his face.

Jackass. I laughed, sending him a grin. "This one's all on her, she just wanted me here for moral support. C'mon Lewis, you know I wouldn't be here otherwise." I raised my hands in defense. Lewis chuckled and shook his head. He was the only good teacher in this school.

"Everyone take your seats," Lewis started. Well, I would take my seat if you all weren't moving so slow. Everyone in this school moved like slugs. Everyone made their way to the tables in the library, grumbling and moaning to themselves for their misfortune of being here this morning. I took a seat next to Penny. "Welcome to the wonderful world of Saturday detention. Everyone gets two, that's right two, 5 minute bathroom breaks, which will be timed and monitored," he sent a pointed look my way. I smirked, barked a laugh and leaned back in my seat, balancing on two legs. "Sleep, do homework, talk to one another, just don't try and leave and we wont have any problems." Lewis then went and started roll call.

Next to me, Penny let out a sigh and rested her head and arms on the table. Smirking, I scanned the room, now restless and awake. My gaze stopped though when I caught sight of a particular girl just as her name was called. Stacy Monroe. Well if it isn't my lucky day.

The well dressed blonde was currently complaining to Lewis about the reason of her detention. She got caught smoking a doobie in the bathroom in 7th period. Damn did she look nice this morning. How the hell did she manage to get herself together this early in the morning? She let out an exasperated sigh as Lewis dismissed her complaints and she was making her way to our table.

I put on the most charming smile I could muster and stopped my fidgeting as she took a seat across from me. She leaned on her elbows, leaning more towards me, looking rather bored and annoyed. Stacy had every sap pining for her affection and attention, luckily, I didn't have to try so hard. I'm a charmer, I know I am, and I do it pretty well, having my share of lady callers on stand by. But Stacy, Stacy was the one I put my efforts towards. Sure, I flirted with others, but that was part of the plan, and it was working so far. Stacy and I had known each other for a while now. I hung our with her group frequently on the weekends and we have a lot of the same classes. Her people were party people and I fit right in.

"This is such a drag," she sighed cooly, checking out her nails. I just shot her my award winning grin that captured the hearts of all the girls in this school. There was a smile playing at the corners of her lips, which looked so full and glossy. "How about we…skip this joint?" Now she was talking. Her eyebrows arched as she leaned in closer to me, I could only smirk more. I thought I had her hook, line and sinker but she pulled back suddenly, nonchalantly saying, "Unless…" she started her eyes flicking from Penny to mine a smirk on her lips, "you're stuck babysitting." I let out a laugh and quickly glanced at Penny who looked like she was fuming. It was easy to press her buttons. Calling her little and young were just the ones to award you her signature glare.

"I'm sure little Penny here can take care of herself," I smiled wide watching Stacy's face.

"Pe—!" My hand quickly went over Penny's mouth, stifling any protest she was about to give. I love Penny, I do, but I also love the fact that I have a chance with the top chick in the school right now. She glared daggers at me, I could feel them even though I wasn't looking at her. I felt her shoulders slump slightly and I had won.

"Right on!" Stacy giggled, happily clapping her hands in fron tof her. "We can have a little party before the party tonight," she smirked again. "Let's go have some fun." She winked at me and went to Lewis to get her freedom. I smirked proudly at myself. Oh yeah, I've got the magic touch. My mind flicked through the possibilities of 'fun' we could have. Though, my happy thoughts were cut short as I could still feel the daggers bearing into my head.

"C'mon you're not really mad," I said to Penny, messing up her hair. "If anything you should be impressed that I stayed this long." For real though, this is probably the longest I've been at any detention. "I know you can never stay mad at me anyways," she was only ever mad me for short period of time, the longest…maybe two days.

"Watch the master Pen and take notes," I told her as I got up from my seat and made my way to Lewis. I clutched my stomach and contorted my face into one of pain. I had this down to a science. Lewis looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "Lewis, I don't think my breakfast is agreeing with me," I hunched over more, exaggerating the 'pain' I was feeling.

"You have 5 minutes," Lewis said with a sigh. I know he didn't believe me. He knew that I wouldn't be here for very long. Lewis let me go anyway. He honestly was the best teacher at this damn school. And with that I had my freedom. Before leaving, I shot Penny a thumbs up before I was gone, only returning in less than the blink of an eye with her favorite doughnut, chocolate frosted, as a peace offering, then it was time to have a proper Saturday.

I met Stacy outside the front of the school, smirking as she jumped when I put my arm around her shoulder. She giggled, grabbing my hand, pulling me along as we went to her house. She smiled widely as she began to speak. "Peter, I got a hold of the really good stuff."

"You better watch yourself or it may all disappear," I smirked as we walked along the sidewalk, my arm still cooly laid over her shoulder. I could feel her nudge in closer to my side. Damn was I cool right now. I was scoring the hottest girl in school without much effort and I was scoring some good weed. "Your parents home?" I questioned as we walked up her porch. She just left out a laugh and shook her head.

"You're funny Peter," like her daughter, Stacy's parents went out just about every weekend leaving their daughter to herself to do whatever she pleased. They were such laid back people who gave their daughter all the freedom in the world and here I was bickered at by all the women in my life for usually something stupid and meaninglessly simple.

We went to her room. Everything was pink, pink walls, pink dressers, pink carpeting and pink bed. My eyes went over everything in the room about 3 times before Stacy was done digging through her drawer to get our fun for the afternoon. I smirked widely as she handed me rollers and weed to make our joints. I went as painfully slow as a normal person would—I could have been done and smoking by now. "You really need this Peter, you're antsy today," she quipped snatching the joint from my hands lighting it quickly and taking a drag. Stacy let out a long smokey breath, a smile forming on her lips.

"Well its not everyday I'm alone with the most sought after girl in school now is it?" I smirked, sending a cool look her way. Her cheeks reddened slightly before she told me to shut up, taking another drag. I finally took one from mine, enjoying the smoke as it filled my lungs. I loved the feeling of getting high, the only downside was that it made me sluggish, it made me slow.

That is how Stacy and I spent our afternoon, laughing at stupid jokes because we kept smoking and kept up our high. When she wasn't preoccupied with other guys she seemed chill. I like chill.

"You know what we should do?" she said laughing as she stood in her bathroom doorway, getting changed into a different outfit for the party tonight.

"What?" I replied, watching her reflection from the mirror as any guy would do. She was hot, it would have been a missed opportunity. I rubbed my eyes, by this point they had to have been bright red.

"Go to the party together. Wouldn't that be cool? I mean if you say no, you are pretty much a loser and I'll make sure no one will date you." She said all that with a straight face before cracking up again.

"There wouldn't be anyone I'd rather go with," I smirked, sending a wink her way which earned me a giggle as she exited the bathroom.

She drove us to the party, my mom took our car this weekend to have a get away with Wanda. We drove at a snails pace, it was a mixture of the weed and a mixture of attempting to act normal and not detect attention from the cops—that's the last thing I need. But by the time we got to the party it was dark. Though, as soon as we rolled up, the party was in full swing, music was playing loudly, plastic cups and beer cans were littering the grass, everything smelled of alcohol and weed and people were dancing all over one another.

Penny would turn her nose up at this, she isn't one for parties. The first time I came home high and wasted she got angry at me and yelled, only to apologize later, she doesn't like alcohol or drugs but she told me that she didn't care if I did, just don't be more stupid than usual.

I was brought out of my thoughts by Stacy wrapping her arms around my own, dragging me towards the party. Within 10 minutes, we had already downed more beers than I could count and things were moving even slower than normal. I pulled her close as we danced to the loud music, letting the music take us. Stacy threw her arms around my neck and I sent back a smirk. She let go and reached into her purse, pulling out a little bag of brightly colored tabs. "How about we make this a little more interesting?" She took out a tab and placed it on her tongue.

This is what Penny meant when telling me not to be more stupid than usual. I knew I should say no, I may have been higher than a kite but I knew not to take this, I was about to say no when Stacy's mouth was on mine. He tongue made its way into my own. She held her hands on my face, keeping me in place as she deepened the drunken, high kiss. And what did I do? I kissed back. Stacy has been my crush for over 3 years now and I couldn't miss my chance.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Soon enough she released my face, popping another tab on her tongue, the one previously now dissolved in my own. I grinned, as she looked up at me as innocently as possible. "Oops," she said biting her lips with a smile.

And the night went on.

The drugs in my system mixed with the alcohol fought with one another— I went from sluggish to over stimulated, to seeing colors shift, to feeling extremely hot. Stacy and I continued to dance and make out for hours on end. This has been the most intense party I have gone too as of now. I frequently partied but nothing had gone past weed and alcohol—LSD wasn't something I would have done. But Stacy wanted it and I wanted Stacy, so here I was.

At some point in the night, Stacy and I had been separated, and apparently…she went home. It was now 3 am and the party was still raging—and I was still feeling the effects of the fun toxins in my body.

I needed to go home. No, no one is home. I needed to see Penny. No Penny would be mad at me. Penny can never stay mad at me. I need a friend. I need to see Penny.

And off I ran. Running, something that was as simple as breathing for me, was not so easy tonight. I stumbled, caught myself and kept running, I kept running until I hit the house. I thought Penny's house was further away than it was. My perception was off and now I swear I can see the color of pain and it was lime green. I laid there groaning—too dizzy and a little nauseous. I heard the front door creak open, rubbing my throbbing head, I looked as best as I could towards the door praying that it wasn't Penny's mom.

"Peter?" a whispered voice called out, I smiled at the voice. Thank god it was Penny.

"I uh, didn't stop quick enough," I laughed out—hoping my words didn't slur too badly. The huff coming from Penny's direction told me otherwise. Before I knew what was happening, she looped her arms around my armpits and was dragging me into the house. I didn't protest, this was funny, and I didn't want to move on my own. She pushed me upright against the wall next to the front door, taking a seat down next to me. Her legs were crossed, "You're drunk," she said quietly, leaning her head against the wall, she was looking at me.

"And higher than a kite," I sent her a smile, laughing—not daring to tell her high off of what combination of things. She rolled her eyes at me, an action Penny perfected at this point. Penny rolling her eyes was second nature, especially towards me. All of the sudden my cravings hit and everything seemed to haze out. I looked Penny in the eyes, mustering up as serious of a tone as I could, "Pen, I need food," I looked her right in the eyes.

"You need sleep," she retorted, turning her who face towards my own. "How about I take you home?"

I don't want to go home. I want to be here. No one's home and I don't want to be home alone, I don't like it—at least not when I'm feeling like shit. "no, no ones there. Not going. Can't make me." I shot her a smile.

"C'mon Peter, let—"

"No." I cut her off. I don't want to go home.

"Peter I'm—"

"No!" I want to be here.

"Peter," she whispered like my mom did when she was getting mad at me in public. My eyes found her's, she was acting like my mom right now, but then again she always over reacts. I flashed her another smile only to have her huff again before standing up. She extended her hands towards me, wanting me to get to my feet. Being the sarcastic dick I am I just high-fived her only granting another eye roll. "C'mon you're going to bed. Take my hands."

"Pennnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyy," I whined, not wanting to move, not wanting to listen. She grabbed my hands anyway and struggled as she pulled me up to my feet, then again I wasn't making it any easier.

She practically dragged me up the stairs, going as slow as ever. We stumbled along and I kept whining at her, annoyed that I wasn't just sitting on the floor, I was comfortable there. "Peter, wallllllk," now she was whining as she hoisted me up one step at a time before we were finally at the top. I thought of criticizing her slowness, only to laugh not being able to get my thoughts out and she clamped a hand over my mouth, pushing me down the hall into her room.

Once we got in her room she pushed me onto her bed, bending over with her hands on her knees. Penny's room was much different than Stacy's. There was no pink, I looked around the room, comparing it to the once I got high in earlier, it was plain and messy. There was a pile of clothing stacked upon a chair, the blue walls were scattered with a few posters and on her dresser were books and pictures of Penny and her mom and others of my family. Her room felt lived in and real, it was Penny.

"Do you realize how much more annoying you are when you're like this?" I was brought out of my thoughts and I just grinned at her. "How much did you smoke Peter?"

"Haha, a lot." I patted down my pockets until I found the one I put my extra doozie in, taking it out and waving it towards Penny. She just had her shadow slap it out of my hand and across the room.

"And how much did you drink?

"A lot more," I grinned, slightly feeling bad that I didn't tell her about what else I had done, then again she would just get more mad, I attempted to get off the bed, only to be pushed down by the petit girl in front of me. Penny acted like a mom again, taking off my shoes, one by her and one from her shadow. I thought I would be funny. I stared at her with wide eyes, "I'm tripping," as I watched her shadow take off my shoe, Penny squinting her eyes at me confused.

"Did you hit your head hard enough to forget my mutation?"

"Just kidding Pen. You're a weirdo just like me." I laughed and grinned at her again.

She just rolled her eyes in response, pushing me down onto the bed, covering me up with the covers. I didn't fight her, I was actually amazed that even after being a sarcastic, drunk and high ass, she still did all this for me. How did I manage to find a friend like Penny? "Sleep this off Peter," she said with a little smile, "you're gonna feel like shit in the morning." Boy was she right. Now she was the one smirking at me and I was the one to send a glare. I moved around on the bed, getting as comfortable as I could, watching Penny as she eventually let out a tired yawn. How late was it?

Penny reached over me to grab her other pillow, her long hair basically suffocating me. I grabbed at it, waving it in the air. "Your hair is long Penny," I stated, it really was—I can't remember the last time she got it cut. She detangled my fingers from her hair and threw the pillow on the floor, grabbing the blanket on the end of the bed before plopping herself down on the floor, closing her eyes as she laid down.

"Pennnnnnny, I'm hungry," I complained, rolling on my stomach to look at her from the bed.

"Go to sleep Peter."

"Pennnnnyyyy," I whispered and she opened one eye, looking extremely tired.

"Sleep. Now." she fell asleep while talking. I glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was currently 4:37 am. I honestly didn't deserve such a great friend. I looked down at Penny, watching her chest rise and fall in steady breaths.

"Night Pen," I whispered as I rolled to my side, attempting to let sleep take over my mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the delay in this chapter. I had work all week and weekend and didn't have any access to internet/computer so I was actually able to work on this today and managed to get it completed. I still need to look it over and check for any mistakes but I just want to get this out for you.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and please let me know what you think! Hopefully I will have the next chapter up by the weekend.


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